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In an age of climate alarm, why is Ryanair launching flights from Stansted to Newquay?

The controversial thrice-weekly service from London to Newquay will launch this summer
The controversial thrice-weekly service from London to Newquay will launch this summer

With every week featuring either a climate conference, a Just Stop Oil protest or a Greta Thunberg sermon, the days of unthinkingly hopping onto a plane are all but over. At dinner parties up and down the country, members of the middle class extol the virtues of rail and ferry travel – even if they later book a convenient flight to the Algarve on the sly.

Whether you’re actually abandoning airports, merely claiming to do so, or simply ignoring the eco-alarm, there’s no denying that across Europe there is a general push to reduce the number of planes in the sky. Late last year, France announced a ban on domestic flights between cities where there’s a rail alternative of under two and a half hours.

It means air routes between Paris Orly and Lyon, Bordeaux and Nantes are to be scrapped. Elsewhere, overnight rail routes are expanding at speed, with the hotly anticipated European Sleeper connecting London with Berlin (with a change in Brussels) from May, and a Prague extension in the pipeline for 2024. Furthermore, both France and Germany recently offered 60,000 free train tickets to young travellers to encourage rail trips between the two countries this summer.

All of which makes it rather surprising that Ryanair, Europe’s biggest low-cost airline, is launching three new internal UK flight routes this summer, the most eyebrow-raising of which is the thrice-weekly service from London to Newquay – a journey of under 250 miles.

When asked by The Telegraph why it has chosen to launch the new routes from London Stansted to Cornwall, Belfast and Edinburgh, the carrier cited the Government’s decision to slash Air Passenger Duty (APD) on domestic flights by 50 per cent (from £13 per person to £6.50) from April this year.

Ryanair cited the Government’s decision to slash Air Passenger Duty (APD) on domestic flights as the reason for the move
Ryanair cited the Government’s decision to slash Air Passenger Duty (APD) on domestic flights as the reason for the move

The news certainly hasn’t been greeted with universal applause. Justin Francis, CEO of Responsible Travel, which specialises in eco-minded holiday itineraries, said: “Given the urgency of the climate crisis, this is quite alarming. But the Government’s irresponsible tax cut on domestic flights has helped enable and encourage it.

“We need to discourage short-haul flying through fair taxes that are ring-fenced for investment into improved and affordable rail travel.”

Cat Jones, founder and CEO of rail-based tour operator Byway, echoed this sentiment and said she was “disappointed”, laying the blame at the door of the Government for cutting APD. “We’ve been proud of the strides made in Europe to limit domestic and short-haul flights and to prioritise other options where rail routes allow,” she added.

She also questioned the need for a new flight route, highlighting the ease and beauty of a train journey down to the South West. “It is a direct five-hour train from London to Penzance,” she said.

“There’s no hassle or stress waiting for baggage checks and transfers or security. With the train you can be on and off within 10 minutes. There’s also a brilliant Night Riviera sleeper, another special rail experience, so you don’t have to miss a day travelling. You can easily wake up in Cornwall from wherever you are in the UK.”

A broken transport system

However scenic the route, it’s hard to get swept up in the romance of train travel given the ongoing chaos caused by strikes and mass cancellations. Damning data from the Office of Rail and Road revealed that almost one in every 12 trains across Britain was cancelled in the four weeks up to January 7, excluding strike days.

The oft-criticised Avanti West Coast was the worst offender, with 18.9 per cent of services axed, while the Caledonian Sleeper linking London and Scotland failed to run 8.7 per cent of its departures. Rail companies have blamed the lingering impact of the pandemic and strike action for the dismal figures, but that’s cold comfort to passengers.

It may be understandable, then, that holidaymakers don’t want to roll the dice on rail, or face jam-packed roads. To this point Cat Jones says: “We’re not here to judge people for flying, we just want everybody to enjoy the experience of flying less and to make that choice whenever they are able to. Yes, there is also work to be done regarding the various train companies and strike action, but it would be unfair to tar rail as the only sector with these issues: last summer there was constant airport chaos and disruption with air travel.”

For all its critics, Ryanair has emerged as one of most reliable airlines over the past few years. In the first half of 2022, the budget carrier cancelled just 0.3 per cent of flights and was the best performing major airline worldwide.

Then there’s the cost. In the first week of April, Ryanair’s Cornwall fares start at just £33 return for the one-hour-and-15-minute hop. Meanwhile, the cheapest rail fares from Paddington to Newquay on the same dates are more than £120 – though cheaper tickets may be released closer to the date of travel. Between inflation and energy bills, it’s not hard to see how climate concerns might fall by the wayside.

Embarking on a five-hour-plus drive is an option for some, but while the RAC has reported that general traffic still remains down on pre-pandemic levels, it predicts it will increase to record highs in the coming years. Besides, unless you have an electric vehicle, it’s hardly an eco-friendly option.

A renaissance for domestic flights?

Despite the launch of Ryanair’s new routes, the trend is clear: Britain’s domestic air routes are dwindling. Data from aviation analytics firm OAG shows a 56 per cent reduction in the number of domestic flights during the last 25 years – from 454,666 annual departures in 1997 to 198,866 in 2022.

Furthermore, a number of previously well-served routes – each with more than 1,500 departures in 1997 – have been lost entirely, including Aberdeen-East Midlands, Aberdeen-Leeds Bradford, Bristol-Leeds Bradford, Edinburgh-East Midlands, Edinburgh-Manchester.

OAG’s Chief Analyst John Grant said this is largely due to the difficulty of remaining profitable in the high-cost domestic landscape, pointing to the 2020 collapse of major regional player Flybe.

“It’s really hard for airlines to operate regional UK domestic services with any degree of frequency and be profitable,” he said. “Flybe and many others will attest to that – if you stay small, know your market and don’t get distracted you can just about survive, and no more than that.”

Still, while the domestic flight market is clearly a difficult one to master, the slashing of APD and Ryanair’s bold move may inspire other major players to increase their internal UK routes. On a full Ryanair flight, the £6.50 tax cut translates to a not insignificant saving of £1,228.50 on every departure.

Britain’s smaller airports are certainly primed. Anne Doyere, aviation director at short-haul specialists London City Airport, told the Telegraph: “We are hopeful of adding more routes to the Channel Islands this year and we stand ready to work with airlines, local businesses and local governments to help grow our domestic network further still.”

So while the eco-push in Europe intensifies, could the UK be about to see an unlikely domestic flight renaissance? If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that Britain – or at least the Government – is  not afraid of being an outlier.